After The Sweet Hereafter
by minasark
Summary: The death of Jason Blossom changed Riverdale, that we knew. What we didn't know was that the attempt on Fred Andrews' life set in motion events that would nearly destroy it. (Picks up right were 1x13 leaves off.)
1. Chapter 1: The Night Before

**Imagine this instant frozen in time. People will look back at this as the exact moment when that last bit of Riverdale's innocence finally died. When darkness won. Marked by an act that was anything but random.**

 **The death of Jason Blossom changed Riverdale, that we knew.**

 **What we didn't know was that the attempt on Fred Andrews' life set in motion events that would nearly destroy it.**

* * *

 **Hours before the shot that changed everything, Betty Cooper—the blonde haired girl next door that I had fallen irrevocably in love with—and I found ourselves in a fateful moment of our own.**

"So, what…" Betty asked as she anxiously paced the living room of the Jones' double-wide trailer, "You're a Serpent now?"

Jughead Jones watched expressionless as his girlfriend made what had to have been her hundredth lap around the modestly sized space wondering how on Earth the night had taken such a turn.

They had been in the middle of what could only have been described as the throws of young teenage passion when they had been so unceremoniously interrupted by a group of South Side Serpents who had offered him a leather jacket and with that, a place among their ranks.

"I don't know." Jughead replied, instantly regretting his choice of words.

Betty stopped mid-step and turned to face him, her eyes wide in disbelief, "You don't _know_?!"

Jughead sighed and leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees, "Betty, right now a bunch of crap is being slung our way and they're offering protection."

"Juggie, how many times do I need to—"

"No, Betty." Jughead interrupted, his gaze meeting hers, "I can't protect you anymore, not when I'm at South Side High. Not when I'm with my foster family. I know you think you don't need protection, but what happened at school…your locker…"

He tore his gaze away from hers, as the anger he had previously felt started to bubble up inside. Anger and fear that the girl in front of him—the girl he loved so much—was being threatened with the promise of violence…all because she loved him back.

Something in his countenance must have got his message across because Betty was immediately at his side, her hands holding his as she sat down next to him, on top of the crumpled jacket that had started this conversation to begin with.

"If anything happened to you…" he started, his voice failing him as he tried to fight back the emotion that had slowly been creeping into his words.

Betty gave his hands a comforting squeeze before she softly spoke, "How come it's okay for you to worry about me, but I can't worry about you?"

Jughead made a tiny groan in protest, but she continued, "Juggie…I know that your father was a Serpent—that they're like family to him, but they're also a _gang_. They have done a lot of bad things, Jug. Vandalism, violence, drugs…"

She trailed off letting her words sink in. She shifted a little on the sofa, pulling the jacket out from under her, clutching it in her hands, "You once told me that we are not our parents. You do not have to go down this path. Not if you don't want to.

"I know that so much is changing right now and that there is a lot outside of your control, but you still control your actions and how you respond to the change taking place around you. We can figure something else out. We always do."

They sat in silence for a moment, the full weight of Betty's words sinking in.

Jughead slowly pulled the jacket out of her grip and cast it aside. He slowly raised her hands to his mouth, kissing her knuckles, causing Betty to release a sob that she didn't even know she was holding back.

Wordlessly, he pulled her into his arms and the two remained there, silently wrapped in each other's embrace until they fell asleep.

* * *

Jughead woke up to the sounds of birds chirping.

Sunlight was streaming through the blinds of the living room window and Betty was still asleep in his arms.

Smiling to himself at how perfectly cliché this moment was, he found that he didn't care that something so normal, so mainstream made him so impossibly happy. Considering the week they had all just experienced, he would take happiness wherever he could get it.

Which was why in that moment, he decided he would keep the jacket. Be a South Side Serpent in name only out of respect for the group who had always had his father's back and to accept the protection they could provide both him and the sleeping blonde in his arms.

Beyond that, he was done.

The Serpents had always been a point of contention between him and his father, but they had provided key information in the investigation of Jason Blossom's death, not to mention how they came through for Archie's father when his construction business needed help.

Jughead knew it would be foolish to turn away a helping hand when one was offered, but he knew that he could never assume the role in the Serpents that his father once held. He didn't want to. Not when the only thing he wanted had her head resting on his shoulder, hand resting on his chest, deep in a blissful sleep.

Almost as if she could sense his gaze, Betty started to stir. The hand on his chest began to flex as she slowly began to wake and Jughead caught a glimpse of the inside of her palm. He frowned as he saw fresh red marks that couldn't have been more than two days old. Before he could try to get a closer look, Betty gazed up at him, her face beaming with happiness.

Now was not the time.

"Morning." He stated, grinning down at her, "On a scale of one to ten, how pissed do you think your parents are right now?"

Betty laughed and pretended to consider his question, "Probably not any more mad than if I went home after getting breakfast at Pop's."

Jughead let out a surprised laugh, "Fair point. Mommy and Daddy Dearest will be easier to face after a stack of pancakes. Let's go."

They slowly untangled themselves, their limbs stiff, as Betty took in her appearance for the first time.

"Oh my god, Juggie, I am a _mess_!" She exclaimed, looking down at her clothes.

While Jughead thought that her current disheveled state looked adorable, he knew that there was no way Betty would consider going out in public with her clothes looking so unkempt.

Her shirt was more wrinkled than any article of clothing he'd ever seen and her skirt wasn't much better—what were girls' clothing _made_ out of anyway?

Jughead laughed and motioned for him to follow her, "Come on, Eliza Doolittle. Let's get you presentable."

Betty rolled her eyes, laughing as she let him lead her to his old room. She silently stood in Jughead's room—which is just as she had remembered it from childhood—patiently watching him dig in his dresser.

After triumphantly producing a pair of black sweatpants, one of his white tanks, and a green flannel, he turned his back to Betty giving her some privacy as she quickly changed. Jughead turned around just as she was arranging her hair into an uncharacteristically messy bun.

Betty scrunched her face up as she put the finishing touches on her bun, "What?"

Jughead just shook his head, smiling, "You've just…never looked more beautiful. That's all."

Blushing, Betty walked over to Jughead, running her hands up his arms to rest on his shoulders, "Maybe I should wear flannel more often."

"That, Betty Cooper, is an excellent idea." He agreed, grabbing a hold onto her waist.

They leaned in to kiss but were interrupted by the loud noise of Jughead's stomach growling.

They burst into laughter, Betty recovering first, "Come on, let's get some food in you before you waste away."

"We wouldn't want that, now would we?" He chuckled, grabbing her hand as he turned towards the door.

 **What we didn't know—couldn't have possibly known—was that we were headed straight towards the crime scene of the attempted murder of a man who had stepped in as a father figure to both of us when our own fathers had let us down.**

 **The father of our best friend Archie Andrews.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading! Even though the plot moving forward is only what I think will happen and original, I am trying to keep this fic as true to the show as possible. Please let me know what you think!**

 **Anything written in bold (that's not an Author's Note ;) is Jughead's literary narration.**


	2. Chapter 2: Robbery Gone Wrong

**Mark Twain once wrote that 'the fear of death follows from the fear of life.' That a man 'who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.' Fred Andrews had lived a full life. Married his high school sweetheart. Started a family. Owned his own business. Watched his son begin to grow into the man he was to become.**

 **By anyone's standards, Fred Andrews had lived as full of a life as anyone could hope to live, but that morning in Pop's, he wasn't prepared to die.**

 **He was only prepared to do everything he could to keep his son safe.**

Betty and Jughead slowed their pace as they saw the flashing blue and red lights outside of Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe.

"Juggie…what's going on?" Betty asked, gripping his hand a little tighter as they got closer, the full scene coming into view.

"I don't know." Jughead breathed, unable to fathom the scene before him.

Cop cars surrounded Pop's creating a barrier from the growing crowd that was beginning to amass outside of the diner. There was an ambulance near the diner's entrance where a paramedic was attending to Pop as he appeared to give a statement to Sheriff Keller who was diligently taking notes.

"Oh my god, Pop!" Betty exclaimed, tears already beginning to well in her eyes as she saw the owner's many wounds.

"He held me at gunpoint," Pop stated, wincing as the paramedic pressed gauze on the gaping cut on his forehead, "but I refused to open the register. Said that I had just done the AM deposit and that there was no money that wasn't locked away in the safe."

"Pop's was robbed?" Jughead asked in disbelief. No business had ever been robbed in Riverdale. Not in his lifetime.

Then again, teenagers hadn't been murdered by their fathers after discovering a secret international drug ring until that summer.

Anything was possible.

"He then jumped off the counter and pointed his gun at Fred." Pop continued, "His son, Archie tried to get to him, but it was too late. Fred…he shot Fred and ran."

"Fred?!" Betty gasped in horror, "Oh no! Archie!"

She ripped her hand out of Jughead's and frantically began to pat herself down, checking her pockets specifically.

"Juggie, my phone. I don't have my phone." Panic was starting to grip her, " _Where is my phone_?!"

"Betty, calm down." Jughead stated, gripping her shoulders. It was taking all of his control not to panic right alongside her, but seeing as how she had beat him to it, he needed to remain calm. One of them had to anyway.

Time was of the essence.

Jughead reached into his coat's pocket and found his phone, still on silent from the Jubilee and silently cursed.

"He tried to call." He muttered, scrolling through notifications on his screen, "Here. Texts."

He handed Betty his phone and she snatched it, reading the texts intently.

"Mr. Andrews is in surgery." Jughead continued. "It's bad, Betts. We need to get to the hospital."

Betty looked up and met his gaze, tears freely streaming down her face now. She nodded as tried to wipe them away, "Let's go."

* * *

By the time they reached the hospital, Betty and Jughead were at a dead sprint and didn't stop until they saw red and black hair huddled together in the waiting room outside of the Emergency OR.

"Archie!" Betty yelled, running towards where he sat with Veronica.

Archie jumped up from his seat and caught his oldest friend as she crashed into him.

"Betty!" He breathed, wrapping his arms tight around her smaller frame. They stayed there for a moment before Archie looked up at his second oldest friend and extended an arm to him, "Jug! I've been trying to call you two."

"Archie, I'm so sorry. I lost my phone." Betty explained, pulling back a little in his embrace to look at him, "What happened?"

Archie met her gaze, his brown eyes full of something she had never seen in them before.

Horror.

"There was a man." He choked out, "He was trying to rob Pop's. He shot my dad, Betts."

Jughead looked over at Veronica who gave him a slight nod, her expression grave.

"I tried to stop it." Archie continued, "I tried…"

"How is he?" Jughead asked, pulling back from Archie's embrace, but keeping a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"He's in surgery." Archie answered, taking in a shaker breath, "We won't know anything for awhile…I can't lose him. I can't…"

Betty made a muffled noise of surprise as Archie fell into her, his legs giving out. Jughead rushed forward, trying to support some of his weight, so he didn't completely crush Betty as she knelt to the floor, nearly falling with Archie still holding onto her.

Her eyes flicked over to Jughead who had positioned himself behind Archie as he stabilized their friend on the ground, his heart breaking at Archie's pain.

Veronica came over to the group and crouched down next to them, gently rubbing her boyfriend's back. They stayed that way for awhile, until Archie had no more tears left in him and waited the remaining hours in silence, the four of them sitting next to each other in the overly stiff waiting room chairs.

After what seemed like eternity, the surgeon walked through the OR's double doors and headed straight for the group. Archie immediately stood and met the doctor before he could make it half way across the room.

"The surgery was a success."

The group collectively sighed in relief. Archie looked back at his friends, smiling as fresh tears threatened to form. This time, they were tears of joy.

He turned back to the surgeon.

"Your father is a very lucky man." The doctor continued, "An inch in any other direction and it could have gone differently. It'll be a long and painful recovery, but I expect Mr. Andrews to make a full recovery. He's in recovery now, but one he's moved to the ICU, you'll be able to see him."

The doctor gave Archie a reassuring nod, before heading back through the double doors. Archie walked back to his friends and practically fell back into his seat, lightheaded at the amount of relief that was coursing though him.

His father was going to be okay.

"Oh, thank God!" Veronica exclaimed, leaning over to give Archie's hands a squeeze, "This deserves a round of coffee."

"I'll come with you." Betty offered, standing as Veronica stood.

Now that they knew Mr. Andrews was going to be alright, Betty needed a task—anything—to calm down her nerves.

The two girls walked to the floor's small coffee cart before Veronica gave her friend a sly look and nudged Betty with her elbow.

"Don't think it escaped my notice that you're wearing our favorite brooding writer's clothes underneath that Nancy Drew trench coat of yours. Spill."

Betty let out a surprised laugh, relieved to be talking about something so normal after those tense hours of silence. She looked down at her outfit and remembered how happy she had felt that morning. How beautiful Jughead had made her feel when she turned around and saw how he looked at her standing there in his clothes.

Had that moment really only been that morning?

"I spent the night with Jughead." Betty started. When she saw Veronica open her mouth to let out what would have undoubtedly been an excited shrill, she quickly continued, "Nothing happened.

"Well, something almost happened," she quickly amended, "but we got interrupted."

Veronica shook her head laughing as she paid for the four coffees. That was just their luck.

"But…" Betty finished, grinning from ear to ear, "it was the best night I've ever had."

"Aww, yay!" Veronica exclaimed, turning to her friend brimming with excitement, "After all of the crap you two have been through, what with the-powers-that-be trying to pull you apart these days..."

"You're starting to sound like Jughead." Betty joked, grabbing the coffee that was meant for her out of the to-go caddy Veronica was carrying.

"I'm happy for you. For you both." Veronica stated matter-of-factly, looping her free arm through Betty's as they walked back to the waiting room.

"Thank you." Betty said, looking at her friend thoughtfully, "I know we're only 16 and not even halfway through high school, but this…with him feels like the start of forever."

"Oh, my God!" Veronica blurted, "Stop before I swoon for real."

By the time they got back, Archie had already left to go be with his father in the ICU.

Veronica handed Jughead his coffee as Betty took her jacket off before taking her seat between the two. They engaged in minor conversation during the time Archie was gone, often sipping their coffees in silence, relieved that their friend hadn't lost his father—that they hadn't lost the man who had offered them countless advice and encouragement throughout their lives.

Veronica stood when Archie walked back into the waiting room, "How is he?"

Archie pulled her into a hug as he let out a sigh, "He's tired, confused. Doesn't really remember what all happened, but he's alive. That's all I could ever ask for."

His eyes flicked over to Jughead and Betty who had stood when Veronica did, the two of them hanging back to let Veronica and Archie have their moment.

Archie stared at Betty for a few moments, not sure why she suddenly looked so different to him, but it soon became clear.

She was wearing Jughead's clothes.

They had spent the night together.

Archie looked away quickly, unsure of why he felt so agitated by this realization.

He pulled away from Veronica and looked at his friend, "Betty…do you think you could go to my house and grab a few things?"

"Of course!" Betty exclaimed, happy to have a concrete task at last, "Give me a list and I'll go as fast as I can."

Jughead smiled to himself at Betty's overeagerness. He knew how much it had been driving her crazy for her to not have something more tangible to do, "Need help?"

Betty turned to face Jughead, gently grabbing both hands in hers, "Thanks, but I should be fine. Archie…shouldn't be left alone right and he needs his best friend."

She leaned in closer to him and lowered her voice before she continued, "And as comfy as it is in your clothes—which I am totally keeping this flannel, by the way—this will be a good opportunity to go home and change. As much as I plan to avoid running into my parents in doing so, things might go smoother if…"

"They don't see the reason why you were out all night?" Jughead asked, grinning.

Betty nodded.

"Got it." Jughead agreed, giving her a wink, "And consider that flannel yours. It looks better on you anyway."

Betty laughed, giving him a quick kiss before grabbing her coat, "See you soon."

She walked over to Archie who gave her his keys and scrap of paper that had a few of his and his father's things written on it.

With one last wave, Betty was gone.

* * *

Veronica had left to go on a second coffee run, leaving Archie and Jughead alone in the waiting room. The two sat in silence before Jughead broke the silence.

"So I'm not due to move in with the foster family for another few days…" he began tentatively.

Archie had sunk down in his chair, resting his head on the back of his chair. He turned his head to look at his friend, a smile smile beginning to form.

"…if you need someone to help you ready the house for when your dad's released." Jughead continued.

"I would love your help, Jug." Archie interrupted, letting his friend off the hook. Jughead had always detested public displays of emotion—and said so frequently—so the fact that he was even hinting around at an offer to keep Archie company while his dad was in the hospital was pretty monumental, "I'm really going to miss having you as a roommate."

Jughead gave his friend a sly smirk, "I'm pretty sure weekend sleepovers can be negotiated with the fosters."

Archie laughed as Veronica came back with a new tray of coffee.

"You know, for being located in a small town hospital, this coffee is all that bad." She commented handing the boys their drinks, "It could even be considered good."

"You should pitch that as their slogan." Jughead suggested, " ' _The Corner Bean: Some consider our coffee good._ '"

"It is pretty catchy." Archie agreed, playing along with the bit, "What about, ' _The Corner Bean: It's not like you have any other options_.'"

The trio laughed, as Veronica held up her hands in surrender, "Hey, I merely say what everyone else is already thinking."

"Such selflessness." Jughead goaded, grinning.

"Oh, Juggie." She sighed, taking a considering sip of her drink, "You have no idea."

They all burst into laughter and Archie leaned back in his chair again feeling as though all the stress and weight of the morning was finally starting to fall away.

* * *

Betty had made it into her home unnoticed and moved to her closet to pick out something to change into as quick as possible before her parents realized that she was there.

She had just placed her hand on the handle to her closet door before her luck ran out.

"Elizabeth Cooper, where on Earth have you…what on Earth are you _wearing_?!" Alice Cooper yelled, barging unceremoniously into her daughter's room.

"Mom. I don't have time to get into this with you right now." Betty stated through gritted teeth, as she turned to face her mother, "Fred Andrews has been shot. I need to change and then run over to Archie's house to get a few things before I go back to the hospital."

Alice crossed her arms and widened her stance, ready to throw down, "I _know_ Fred was shot!" She fired back, "Why do you think I've been worried about my daughter not coming home or answering her phone on the morning there was a shooting at a place she always goes?"

"It wasn't a shooting, Mom." Betty explained, turning back to her closet, "It was a robbery gone wrong."

Alice blinked, "A robbery?"

"Yes." Betty confirmed, turning around outfit in hand. She opened her mouth to continue their argument, but saw the look on her mother's face. It was the look she always got when she was trying to work through the details of a particularly difficult story.

Betty took a cautious step forward, "Why? Mom, what is it?"

"When you go to Pop's before 9 am…" Alice started, slowly taking a seat on Betty's perfectly made bed, still deep in thought, "…you know that unless you have exact change, you'lol have to pay with a credit card—"

"Because the bank doesn't come for the deposit until 9 am and he doesn't start a new drawer until then." Betty finished. It was a frustrating antiquated practice, but that was the charm of Pop's. It was like it was stuck in a time when things were simpler. Safe.

"Why would someone rob a place during the only time there is little to no cash in that drawer?" Alice continued, looking up at her daughter.

"What are you saying?" Betty asked softly, the pieces slowly coming together.

"Either the robber is not from around here or…"

"This wasn't a robbery at all."

 **Yes, by anyone's standards, Fred Andrews had lived as full of a life as anyone could hope to live, but that morning in Pop's, he wasn't prepared to die.**

 **He was only prepared to do everything he could to keep his son safe.**

 **But his son was never in any danger.**

 **That the bullet was meant for Fred Andrews and Fred Andrews alone.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the comments, follows, and favorites! Please keep sending my your feedback!**


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